Nanoparticles could spur better LEDs, invisibility cloaks

In an advance that could boost the efficiency of LED lighting by 50 percent and even pave the way for invisibility cloaking devices, a team of University of Michigan researchers has developed a new technique that peppers metallic nanoparticles into semiconductors.
It's the first technique that can inexpensively grow metal nanoparticles both on and below the surface of semiconductors.

New robotic lab tracking toxicity of Lake Erie algal bloom

A new research tool to safeguard drinking water is now keeping a watchful eye on Lake Erie. This week, a robotic lake-bottom laboratory began tracking the levels of dangerous toxins produced by cyanobacteria that bloom each summer in the lake's western basin.